Maya Angelou is an author, historian, poet, playwright, dancer, songwriter, performer, singer, director, stage and screen producer, and civil rights activist. She is one of the most influential black women of her time and mine. And I have found great comfort in her poems during this devastating, ongoing issue of police brutality on black lives. […]
Without further ado, “Hello Detroit” by Sammy Davis Jr.
You´re a fighter, you´re a lover
You´re strong and you recover
From whatever gets you down
And there´s so many many reasons
Any time, any season
Is the right time, to be with you
Hello Detroit
You´ve won my heart
Your renaissance, and waterfronts
Give you a flare of your […]
Here are a few of my favorite pictures from my first year living in Detroit.
Starting from left to right: the first two are from an amazing show, Albert Herring at the Carr Center. I was very excited to be working with such talented artists via Opera MODO.
The third picture is of me […]
Next week, the Year 5 Challenge Detroit cohort will be going through their final interview round! Over the past few months, I have received a number of calls, messages, and have had several conversations with potential fellows who are eager to learn more about how they can strengthen their applications. Through the conversations, it has […]
If you’re like me, March was a pretty tough time; spring is on the horizon, but we’re just not there yet.
The fact you are reading a March blog in the month of May should be enough evidence to know that march certainly wasn’t the best month for me.
Of course hindsight is 20/20, but I want […]
In light of Challenge Detroit’s Year 5 recruitment efforts, current fellows were asked to reach out to our networks to get our friends, families, and colleagues interested in applying to the program. Attracting a more diverse fellow applicant pool this year is especially important to Challenge Detroit, which I think is a great way stay […]
Last week, my wonderful teacher and mentor, Reri Grist came to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (Go Blue!) to give a vocal masterclass to the current students there.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Masterclasses; students prepare a song to sing in front of an audience, and then the “Master” gives constructive […]
Winnie the Pooh once said, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard”. He’s absolutely right. Truth be told, I didn’t spend much of my December in the City of Detroit, but by the time I got back from the holidays, I realized I had missed it so much!
You know […]
This one is more a smorgasbord of recent happenings around the city.
Smorgasbord \ˈsmȯr-gəs-ˌbȯrd\ (N): a large mixture of many different things.
• On Snow Days in the 313: Boy is it great to have a roommate who enjoys hosting friends as much as I do! Our Detroit apartment was full of good friends during the first […]
Drivers out there, what’s your dream place to cruise? Humor me while I paint this picture for you: you’re in your whip, jammin’ to the latest hits on FM 98 WJLB with more beautifully smooth lanes ahead of you than you could ever imagine. Your song comes on as you’re approaching the next stoplight, so […]
